


May the light follow you

by Phillasol_W



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 21:04:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18269318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phillasol_W/pseuds/Phillasol_W
Summary: A tremendous sound was heard in the Institute and then it was pain. Alec was on the floor, unable to move.“Izzy! I need you!” a voice said.“Alec!” she answered. “Who is he?”Someone else named Alec living at the Institute? How could he not know?“Who are you?” Alec asked to the teenager.“I’m Alec Lightwood, and you’re…?”





	May the light follow you

**Author's Note:**

> So there's that, based on a plot by [Louise](https://t.co/1PUYcfw2lE) (@angry_alec_ on twitter). I'm putting her exact words at the end because it kinda says everything happening :')  
> Also, protect Alec at all costs.

        A tremendous sound was heard in the Institute and suddenly it was all black and pain. Mostly pain. Alec couldn’t move anymore.  
“Hey, are you okay?”  
        Alec blinked quickly but closed his eyes again. It was too painful. What was happening? And this voice…  
“Izzy! I need you!” the voice said.  
“Alec!” she answered. “Who is he?”  
        Someone else named Alec living at the Institute? How could he not know?  
“I don’t know. I heard a sound and suddenly the person was on the floor. They opened their eyes for less than one second.”  
        Alec tried to move his arm to show he could hear them but he didn’t know if it was working.  
“Help me,” the first voice started again, “I think it would be better to put them in a bed but they seem to be heavy. Also, my bedroom is closer than the infirmary. We’ll call someone then.”  
        He heard the two people walking around him and suddenly he wasn’t on the floor anymore. It was still painful. His trip to the bedroom seemed to last several hours but the bed was actually comfy. Something was strange about the odour of the sheets. He was convinced he already smelled it somewhere else. Of course, everything was washed with the same washing liquid, but it was something else.  
“I’ll go see if someone is at the infirmary,” Izzy said.  
“Nice, I’ll stay here just in case,” the other Alec answered.  
        And Alec fell asleep.  
  
        He woke up feeling less in pain. He managed to open his eyes and faced… Wait. He faced himself. Himself but when he was younger. He shook his head. He was probably dreaming. He closed his eyes again and went under the blanket.  
“Oh, I thought you were awake…” said the other person.  
        Alec sat suddenly on the bed. It wasn’t a dream.  
“Who are you?” he asked.  
“I’m Alec Lightwood, and you’re…?”  
        Was Alec in the past? But he thought time travel wasn’t actually possible… He had already talked about it with Magnus because he was curious and his boyfriend was pretty clear: when it happens, it’s a coincidence and usually ominous.  
“I’m…”  
        He decided that he would lie. For now, at least.  
“I’m Simon. Simon Lewis.”  
        He said the first name he had in mind and smiled internally. The vampire would be so happy when he would know this story. If Alec ever made it back… Well, let’s not think about it.  
        If he remembered well, there was no other Simon in the Institute at that time and his younger self had definitely not met the real Simon yet. So, he was safe. For now.  
“Nice to meet you, Simon! I saw that we have the same rune in the neck and I just wanted to say that it’s fun.”  
        Oh no. Alec hadn’t thought about that. He thanked the angels he was wearing long sleeves and that young-him didn’t notice anything else. Or maybe he did but was suspicious so he was keeping all for himself. Alec shook his head to clear his mind. He couldn’t panic now.  
“Oh, yeah, nice,” Alec finally answered nervously.  
“Where do you come from?”  
“New York!”  
        Alec realised suddenly that it was the first time ever that he was seen in the Institute so he added:  
“But I usually never come here because… It’s complicated?”  
“It’s okay! Don’t worry, Simon.”  
        He smiled and Alec-Simon too. His younger self then started to talk again:  
“Are you okay? I didn’t try to find your iratze because sometimes, you know…”  
        The older Alec nodded. His younger self didn’t know how he got hurt (him neither, actually…) and sometimes it could start to heal a wound not correctly. Not good.  
“We also tried to find an adult to help you, but no one is there, because of a meeting, I think. But Catarina should come soon.”  
        Catarina? Magnus’ friend?  
“Thank you, it’s a lot. I should leave…” older-Alec started. He was thinking that his presence was annoying.  
“Hey, no, you’ve been sleeping for at least five hours, and before it seemed you were dead. Please, stay.”  
        Alec thought for a bit. It was true that he had nowhere to go. And Catarina could probably help him.  
“You’re right, I’m sorry. Earlier I was in a lot of pain, and even if now I’m okay…”  
        Younger-Alec nodded and put his hand on older-Alec’s shoulder.  
“It’s going to be okay, we got you!”  
  
        The two Alec chatted a bit about banalities until a head with long and dark hair appeared through the door.  
“Sorry to interrupt you, but Catarina is here!”  
“I’ll go,” young-Alec exclaimed.  
        He stood up from where he had sat and left his room while Catarina entered.  
“Hi Alec,” she said.  
“Hi Cata- wait, what?”  
        She showed him a paper she was holding in her hand. It looked like a fire message but it was purple.  
“I got this from Magnus, a little earlier. From Magnus in 2019.”  
        Alec opened wide his eyes. How did he…  
“He couldn’t write a lot, but apparently, an experience with your child and their cousin ended up with an explosion which made you travel until now.”  
        Alec nodded.  
“Wow, okay… I had kind of guessed I was in the past but I wasn’t sure… I’m glad you’re here.”  
        Catarina smiled at him and said:  
“I promise I’ll do everything I can to send you back!”  
  
        The nurse had looked at him but he hadn’t anything broken. The only thing causing pain came from the explosion. With the ginormous sound that he had heard, it was actually surprising that he didn’t have any hearing loss.  
        Alec had finally been able to activate his iratze and he had felt instantly so much better. As he was now able to walk, the young Lightwood children had decided to put him in another room.  
       He was trying to distract himself a bit when someone knocked on the door.  
“Come in!”  
        It was Isabelle. She was looking kind of worried.  
“Hey Iz… Izzy, that’s it?”  
        He had to be careful to not act as if they were very close. He was currently Simon, not Alec.  
“Yes,” she nodded. “I have a question. It’s a little personal, though…”  
        Alec was wondering what she had in mind.  
“Ask anyway, I’ll tell you if it’s wrong.”  
“Are you gay?”  
        Alec opened his eyes wide. He was expecting a lot of things, but not this one. How did she even…?  
“Yes, indeed. How did you guess?”  
“Oh no!” She shook her hands. “It’s because… Well, my brother is. He told me one evening but he was having a panic attack so he forgot, or he’s pretending.”  
        Alec was listening carefully. He remembered all of this, but had never gotten Izzy’s point of view. He wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be okay for him.  
“And he has pretty strong clichés about gay people. Like all of the homophobic clichés. So, I told myself, if you were gay, maybe he would listen to you. And also, there’s the fact that nobody else is gay at the Institute, and I’m confused, and…”  
“Hey,” Alec said, “it’s okay. I’ll go talk to him. I went through the same things. All of the prejudices, growing up being the only person who wasn’t a cishet… I know what I can tell him.”  
        Izzy smiled widely at him.  
“Thank you so much, Simon.”  
        She waved at him and left his room.  
        Now that Alec was getting focused on his past, a memory suddenly came to him. He was in his bedroom and a stranger Izzy and him had found in the middle of the Institute had entered to talk to him. How was that stranger called… Simon?  
        Wait. Wait a second. He was remembering… something that hadn’t happened yet?  
        He thought for several minutes before understanding. Technically, as he was in the past, the conversation hadn’t happened yet, in the line of time. But him, Alec from the future, had already lived that. This event had already happened to him. Both as the young boy who listened and the adult who explained.  
        And all became clear in Alec’s mind. He didn’t remember exactly what he had told to himself, but somehow, knowing he kind of had already done it… He knew what he had to say.  
        He stood up and walked to young-Alec’s room. He waited to hear his younger self’s approbation for him to enter.  
“Alec. I have to talk to you.”  
        Young-Alec raised an eyebrow.  
“I’m listening?”  
“I’m gay.”  
        He raised his hand as the other was about to speak.  
“And I’m telling you that because I want you to know that you’re not alone.”  
“How do you even know… Izzy,” he realised.  
“Yes… don’t blame her. She cares about you.”  
        The other didn’t answer but he smiled slightly.  
“So, yes. I wanted to tell you that you’re not alone. Even in this Institute. I know that the Clave is homophobic but you’re so much stronger than them. And one day, you’ll meet the love of your life. You’ll have beautiful children, if you want. And you’ll be incredibly happy.”  
“…You can’t even know,” the younger one sighed.  
“I’m magical,” smiled the other. “I can tell you that you’ll be.”  
        Young-Alec smiled in turn, but he still looked sad.  
“I’m not sure. But thank you, though.”  
        As he pronounced this sentence, tears started to appear in his eyes. He started to wipe them and to cover himself at the same time.  
“Alec… can I hug you?”  
        He nodded and the other put his arms around him. Old-Alec could feel his tears on his shirt. He patted awkwardly young-Alec’s back and said:  
“It’s going to be okay. You have a lot of strength in yourself, more than you think. You can do this. When I was your age…” He was looking for the right words. “When I was your age, I was just like you. Alone. In the closet. Thinking I would never meet people like me. I thought I would be like this forever. But look. Here I am. I have a beautiful husband and beautiful kids that I love very much. I’m out and everything goes well. Of course, some reactions were awful, of course, it was hard sometimes. But look, here I am, happy. And if I did it, you can do it too.”  
        He felt his younger self nodding against his chest and they stayed like this for a while. Young-Alec ended up pushing him a little and as he wiped his eyes one last time, he whispered a: “Thank you”. Old-Alec smiled at him and when he made sure he was okay, he left the room.  
        He was feeling appeased. He hoped that he had done the right thing.  
        Now, his biggest concern was going back into the present. He was starting to miss Magnus and his kids a lot. He went back to his designated room and started to wait. He fell asleep very quickly and was woken up by Catarina several hours later. He checked the clock: it was the middle of the night.  
“Alec, I think I’ve found a way to send you back but you have to leave now.”  
“Now? Can’t I say goodbye?”  
“No. I’ll do it.”  
        His concern must have appeared on his face as Catarina added:  
“I’ll tell something to the children, don’t worry.”  
        He nodded and got out of bed.  
“I’m ready!”  
“So, you know that time travels are mostly random. But actually, they can happen only when you cast particular spells. So, I searched which ones of them could provoke an explosion and in the end, I had two possibilities. But as it was something done by children, and as one of the spells was really hard, I think I can say it was the spell to make plants grow more quickly.”  
“Isn’t it an easy spell?” Alec asked, confused.  
“Yes, but you know, magic…”  
        Alec and Catarina smiled at each other.  
“I will combine this spell with the Portal spell, and with the current configuration of stars, it should work. Hopefully, no explosion and no one hurt. Anyway, we only have this possibility…”  
        Alec nodded. Catarina then brought him in the yard of the Institute.  
“So…” she said. “I’m telling you goodbye?”  
“See you in another time,” Alec laughed.  
        He was getting worried but he didn’t have any other choice, except staying here forever. Which wasn’t a good idea.  
        Catarina started to move her hands everywhere and suddenly Alec passed out.  
  
        Magnus was getting worried. Alec had been gone for almost a day now… And he couldn’t sleep. He had sent a message to Catarina but he had no idea if she had gotten it. He was thinking when he heard a big noise coming from the living room. He rushed there and…  
“Alexander! You’re here!”  
        Alec was on the ground, stunned, but he managed to say a “yes”. Magnus hugged him tightly.  
“You made it back.”  
“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered with a smile showing he was joking. 

**Author's Note:**

> "Who's gonna write a fic where Alec gets to travel to the past and meet his teen version and give him a hug and tell him he'll meet the love of his life and be happy? I'll pay"


End file.
